I thought these books were part of the same series because of the covers and the author but they are not connected. They are at slightly different time periods and locations within the US. Since I did read them together, I felt like I should review them together.

The Mountains Between Us

This is actually the second book of the series but I think it was decent as a standalone. Although I missed the initial bonding and romance of the central couple, their interactions gave me enough understanding of the kind of people they were, together and apart.

I have missed reading good sagas, there was a time ( pre blogging) that they were a significant portion of my read books. When I encounter a book like this I’m reminded about the things I like in the specific sub-genre. It’s 1840 California that’s in focus but we start with the news of the Gold rush. I did not know that it was such a deeply important part of what makes California important. I should have, but reading about the actual hardships and intricacies of regular life of the ‘pioneers’ was fascinating.

Even without their history, Grace and James are people who mean well but have their own weaknesses. Grace comes out better in this narrative even with the disadvantage of being a woman. The narrative is like building blocks, starting from raw materials and leading to a very complex final structure.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style and attention to detail. It is definitely something I recommend to fans of historical fiction.

It’s Boston 1879, a few decades from the last book I read by the author. None of the characters overlapped, at least none that I noticed. The story begins with a Scottish doctor who comes to the city and a position in a woman’s hospital to escape his past and do something worthwhile. An heiress is the patron of the hospital and she has big dreams for the hospital, although no hope for herself personally. Their meeting has all the trappings of a meet-cute but works in the setting.

They continue to cross paths and grow to admire each other. On a side note I found it surprising that after having read this book in a book I’m currently reading I also came across the Tay Bridge disaster mentioned and I had to confirm a couple of times that it was the same thing here! It’s extremely strange because the books are from entirely different genres.

This book is shorter( or felt so) than the other, the duration of the plot is also not too long. A lot happens in the duration and it moves at a quick pace. Although this story was interesting as were the characters I did prefer the complexities of the lives of the people starting with an almost brave new slate of American life.

This book focuses more on the characters rather than the system that surrounds them, but the little that intersects the narrative was quite thorough and felt well researched. I would definitely recommend this author in general to fans of the genre.

I received both books as ARCs thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

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